Lifestyles by Estelia… Stress is Contagious – How to Identify Triggers and Deal with Them

Have you ever stood in line and suddenly experienced a wave of anxiety? That’s called secondhand stress – it’s the tension we pick up from the people and activities around us. It’s the natural fight-or-flight defense mechanism that helped keep our ancestors alive. But as soon as we pick up that tension, we risk becoming carriers, passing it on to anyone we encounter. According to Dr. Amit Sood, an expert on stress at the Mayo Clinic, “stress travels in social networks and is highly, highly contagious.” Excessive or prolonged stress can lead to health issues ranging from headaches to heart problems. The first step in protecting yourself from secondhand stress is to be aware of things around you that create stress, especially people. Many of us have partners, supervisors, colleagues or neighbors who are stress provoking. How do your recognize them? It’s easy – they are the people who you feel judge you, who make you feel that you have to be perfect or even have different moral values. It doesn’t matter – once you’ve identified the problem people you have three basic options:

You can change them;

You can get away from them; or

You can learn to protect yourself.

The first two are not very often possible, but the third is. You (and only you) have to learn how to avoid falling victim! Can you do it?